Poems I Wrote When No One Was Looking (review)
Buy Issue for $25 at JHUP- Poems I Wrote When No One Was Looking
Katz, best known for his comedic kid-appealing lyrics set to popular tunes (Don't [End Page 208] Say That Word!, BCCB 9/07, etc.), offers 100 original verses in this comic compilation. The succinct verses derive humor from puns, family dynamics, and bathroom humor as well as a generous sprinkling of general silliness. This is solid ground for amusing grade-school poetry, as demonstrated by the likes of Jack Prelutsky and Douglas Florian. However, while a few verses trot serviceably toward their punchlines, most are disappointingly disabled by persistent scansion-deafness that leaves lines a near-impassible metric tangle. Additionally, entries often don't convey their comic premise clearly enough or simply fail to provide a payoff worthy of the buildup. If you're keen on Katz, focus instead on his musically based outings; for silly collections, stick to the previously mentioned stalwarts. Koren's familiar shaggily hatched, beaky-nosed figures gambol entertainingly around the poems; while the softness undercuts their punch at times, they're generally lively partners to the verse. An index of titles and an index of first lines are appended.
